Scoot Blog: Young Teens, Sex and Movies

by Scoot,posted Aug 8 2012 7:07PM

A newly released study suggests that movies with sexual content encourage young teens, ages 12 to 14, to have sex earlier and to have more casual partners.

The study from Dartmouth University, titled “Greater Exposure to Sexual Content in Popular Movies Predicts Earlier Sexual Debut and Increased Risk Taking,” coded sexual content, including kissing scenes in G, PG and PG-13-rated movies. Researchers discovered that 68% of the G-rated movies, 82% of the PG-rated movies and 85% of the PG-13 movies contained sexual situations. There should be a warning label on most studies: Use Caution When Analyzing Results!

Before you agree with the results of this study, let’s question whether kissing scenes should be considered sexual. Every young generation has been exposed to kissing and never before has that been a reason for early sexual activity. It is natural for young teens to be driven by hormones and their feelings should not be so easily blamed on the content of entertainment.

In 1967, the content of “The Graduate” left little to the imagination of young viewers, yet the movie was rated PG. As a young kid, I remember and early idea of what ‘love’ felt like from the movie “The Lady and the Tramp.” Every young generation is exposed to things that will lead to thoughts and sensations, but it is the responsibility of parents to teach their children how to deal with those natural human instincts.

Today, it has become a spectator’s sport to watch how quickly parents and politicians try to blame ‘entertainment’ for the inappropriate sexual behavior of their teens. But if there is something else to blame for our failures, then we are never failures. I guess that makes many parents feel better about themselves.